Manchester United fan Pernille Harder scored twice against her childhood club at Old Trafford as Bayern Munich gained a precious first-leg advantage in their Champions League quarter-final tie.
REPORT: Manchester United 2-3 Bayern Munich
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Skinner’s counter to the idea his side may have been better advised to drop slightly deeper to prevent Harder making those runs was sound.
“There are two mistakes in there from us,” he said.
“If you get pressure on the ball, you can’t play the long ball. They tried it a few times and played the ball out of play.
“It worked for them tonight but if I stop those two chances, they don’t score.”
It sounds simple. But execution is key at the highest level. If you don’t do that properly, you will get punished.
There are a number of minor details to explain why United came out on the wrong side of a tight result.
One of them is unquestionably squad depth.
Take the case of Japan midfielder Hinata Miyazawa, who played in the final of the Asian Cup in Sydney on Sunday, then travelled back to start for United.
By contrast, Tanikawa, who did not get on the pitch against Australia, started on the bench for Bayern, who were mindful of the effects of jetlag and wanted the midfielder to make an impact, which she did, by setting up Harder, then scoring the winner.
Skinner simply does not have enough players to rotate like that.
It makes the next few days, which feature another Old Trafford outing against Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City on Saturday before the trip to Germany for the second leg with Bayern next Wednesday (17:45 BST), particularly tough.
“We’ve played the most football in Europe this year, and we’ve got a really small squad right now, so it will challenge us,” said Skinner.
“It will take us to the depths. But the carrot is there for us.
“We expect it to be difficult. You can kind of trench your mind into what you must do.
“That’s why my players are at Manchester United. If they didn’t want to do it, they wouldn’t be at this club. They’re going to give it absolutely everything.”
At the dawn of the 2025 season, we published a column with the headline, “What’s the future for aging Angel Stadium? It feels like an increasingly uncertain one.”
With opening day 2026 upon us, we’d like to update that: “What’s the future for the Angels? It feels like an increasingly uncertain one.”
I don’t mean to be an alarmist. Nothing is happening today, or tomorrow, or in the very near future.
However, the Angels’ stadium lease expires in six years, so what might happen beyond then is starting to come into focus. Angels owner Arte Moreno turns 80 this summer. Moreno — or a new owner, if Moreno eventually sells the team — could simply exercise options to extend the lease for another six years.
But that would not resolve the larger issue of replacing or renovating Angel Stadium. In the coming months, the city expects to release an assessment of what it would take to keep the stadium up and running for years to come, and that could trigger a debate between the city and the Angels about who should pay for what.
The Angels are frustrated by all of this, and in particular by what they consider the curiously timed skirmishes over their 21-year-old Los Angeles name. They are annoyed that, for the second consecutive season, city issues have detracted from the hope and faith and joy that surrounds opening day. It is the city, after all, that walked away from two deals that would have secured the Angels’ long-term future in Anaheim.
During negotiations for the last deal, city officials made clear that keeping the Angels was the top priority, even if Anaheim could make more money selling the stadium property to a developer that would not need to retain the stadium.
Now, with six years left on the lease and no commitment beyond then, the mayor of Anaheim says it is time to prepare for a future with or without the Angels.
“We need to plan for what we see as a vision for that property when the lease has expired,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken told me. “That’s going to take time. No matter how that deal goes, we’re not breaking ground on any project next year.
“But what we need to do, whether it includes the Angels — which I hope it does — or not, is come up with a vision that includes everything residents want to see happen on that land. And only then can we truly advocate for a project that makes sense for us.”
On the day of the home opener last season, Aitken issued an open letter inviting Moreno to meet with her for “an open and honest conversation about the future of baseball in Anaheim” and listing eight starting points for negotiations on a new deal, including the Angels’ restoration of the Anaheim name.
“They have not reached out to us about reopening negotiations for potential development around the property,” Aitken said.
Moreno previously explored other potential ballpark sites, including Tustin in 2014 and Long Beach in 2019.
In Tustin, the targeted land is no longer available. In Long Beach, the proposed waterfront lot remains vacant, but the challenge remains too: Over 81 games each season, how would tens of thousands of fans drive into and out of a ballpark primarily accessible by a single freeway?
For the Los Angeles Angels, perhaps the solution could be found in Los Angeles County.
The Dodgers could bar every other major league team from moving into L.A., but not the Angels. Under MLB rules, neither team could stop the other team from moving anywhere within Los Angeles County or Orange County.
The logical landing spot would be Inglewood, where the Rams, Chargers and Clippers have moved since 2020. Inglewood Mayor James Butts said Sofi Stadium and Intuit Dome have helped to revitalize the city, with unemployment down, home prices up, and municipal revenue up.
“Before, we were known for gangs and crimes and poverty,” Butts told me.
“Now, we are known as the sports and entertainment capital of the western United States.”
How about a baseball stadium in place of the Forum?
“The Forum parcel is absolutely not large enough for a baseball stadium,” Butts said.
Butts said he believes a baseball stadium there would require about 170 acres for the stadium and surrounding parking. Angel Stadium and its surrounding parking lots cover about 150 acres.
On the other hand, the Athletics are building a ballpark on a nine-acre site in Las Vegas, where nearby parking, entertainment and dining options already exist, with more on the way, and with the A’s not responsible for any of that. The same could be true for the Angels in Inglewood, with Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer developing the land around the sports facilities.
However, Butts said he did not envision baseball coming to Inglewood, at least so long as he remains the mayor. Not enough room in town, he said.
“We’re maxed out when it comes to sports,” Butts said. “We are not going to reduce the housing stock and move residents out to have a baseball team.”
Anaheim has one, plus a 150-acre site perfect for a new stadium surrounded by restaurants and shops and homes. There will be days to be anxious and worried about the Angels’ future in the city they have called home for 60 years. Today is not one of them.
Take it from the mayor of Anaheim, who told me that even after telling me why she wants the city attorney to look into whether the Angels are violating their stadium lease.
“Opening day, to me, is nothing about clauses in a contract,” Aitken said. “It’s about family traditions. It’s about kicking off summer. And it’s about getting so many factions and neighborhoods of Anaheim together for a singular purpose, which is cheering on our hometown boys. That’s the beauty of baseball.”
And, as a lifelong Angels fan, she had one more thing to say.
“Right now,” Aitken said, “we’re tied for first place.”
The date and kickoff time for the Rams’ season opener in Australia is set.
The NFL announced on Wednesday that the Rams will play the San Francisco 49ers on Friday, Sept. 11, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground at 10:35 a.m. Australian Eastern Time. Because of the time difference, fans in the United States will see the game on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 5:35 p.m. PDT.
The league did not announce a broadcast or streaming partner.
It will be the first regular-season NFL game to be played in Australia, where the Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles hold global marketing rights.
According to the NFL, “hospitality packages” will be available for purchase through Ticketmaster on April 6, tickets on April 7.
The Rams, who advanced to the NFC championship game last season, are expected to be a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
The Rams have added cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to a roster that includes quarterback Matthew Stafford — the reigning NFL most valuable player — receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and edge rusher Jared Verse among others.
Also on Wednesday, the Rams announced that they re-signed running back Ronnie Rivers to a one-year contract.
Rivers, 27, has been a dependable backup and special teams contributor during his four seasons with the Rams. Last season, he played in 11 games and rushed for 46 yards in nine carries.
Elena Rybakina beat Jessica Pegula for a fifth straight time to move into the Miami Open semi-finals, winning 2-6 6-3 6-4.
Australian Open champion Rybakina was the losing finalist in Miami in both 2023 and 2024, while her American opponent was runner-up in last year’s competition.
Pegula, 32, took a 4-0 lead on her way to the first set, but Rybakina rallied and hit 15 aces and saved eight of 10 break points to come through.
She will face either world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a rematch of the Australian Open final, or the unseeded American Hailey Baptiste in the last four.
“It’s always very difficult playing Jessica,” said Rybakina, 26.
“She started playing well, and I was rushing and frustrated, but I’m happy that I managed to bounce back and turn it around in the second set.”
American fourth seed Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic play in the other semi-final on Thursday.
If Gauff reaches the final, she will overtake former world number one Iga Swiatek to move third in the WTA rankings next week.
Real Madrid’s Linda Caicedo scores with a stunning effort in her team’s 6-2 defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of their women’s Champions League quarter-final.
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Meanwhile, Rangers are attempting to schedule a meeting of Premiership clubs to discusss the use of video assistant referees (VAR), a discussion which may happen in the next fortnight.
Many clubs have publicly expressed concerns about VAR and the general state of refereeing in Scotland.
It’s believed that Rangers have not ruled out withdrawing their financial support of VAR but broadly they believe the system is here to stay.
They might even be prepared to invest more in the technology – for example extra cameras – if they had sufficient confidence that increased investment would lead to better quality decision-making.
When the meeting of clubs takes place there will be an emphasis on coming up with ways to improve the product and get better value for money.
Last month, Paraag Marathe, then the club’s vice-chairman as well as chairman of Leeds United, stood down after discussions with Uefa about multi-club ownership.
Another Rangers director at the time Gene Schneur, also left his role at Ibrox at that time. Neither will be replaced.
Cavenagh also offered his support for manager, Danny Rohl, ahead of the title run-in.
“We are three points off the lead, with seven matches to play,” he said.
“We have complete confidence in Danny, his staff, and our squad. We will approach each match as it comes, and fingers crossed, we will be at the top of the table after 38 matches.”
Jeff Webb, known as the “founder of modern cheerleading” for his role in turning the activity into a competitive sport, died Thursday following “a tragic accident,” a family spokesperson said Tuesday. He was 76.
A former yell leader for the University of Oklahoma cheerleading squad, Webb went on to form several organizations — including Varsity Spirit, the Universal Cheerleaders Assn. and the International Cheer Union — that helped him reshape what was once largely a sideline activity into an International Olympic Committee-recognized sport that features elements of gymnastics, stunts and dance.
Cheer Daily reports that an email sent by Varsity Spirit president Bill Seely to the company’s community said that Webb fell while playing pickleball earlier this month and suffered a severe head injury.
Webb was buried in a private ceremony for family on Sunday. A larger celebration of life will be held at a later date.
“Our father was, at his core, a man of inexhaustible energy, and he poured that energy into everything he did, from revolutionizing cheerleading to his never-ending — and constantly growing — list of activities,” Webb’s children said in a statement.
An avid outdoorsman, Webb managed a farm and hunting lodge and enjoyed offshore fishing and boating. He was also a pilot, author, publisher and guitar player.
“He brought that same spirit of dedication and encouragement to being a father and grandfather,” his children added. “To most people he is a legendary entrepreneur — to us, he was our soccer coach and on-demand comedian, our mentor and father-daughter dance partner, our solace and our source of strength.
“He taught us by example that a life well lived contains balance, that seriousness and silliness are not in fact opposites, that focus and discipline do not and should not preclude care and kindness.”
Through his organizations, Webb established hundreds of cheerleading competitions — including national championships that have been broadcast on ESPN for decades — and training camps. He was a pioneer in the manufacturing and marketing of cheerleading apparel and equipment and also played a role in establishing safety guidelines for the sport.
“The founder of modern cheerleading, [Webb] spent his life building the sport he loved and advocating for young people everywhere,” the International Cheer Union wrote on Facebook. “Our thoughts are with his family, friends and the entire global cheer community.
Varsity Spirit wrote on Instagram: “Join us in honoring the life and legacy of Jeff Webb, founder of Varsity Spirit and modern cheerleading. His impact has built a community that will continue to inspire generations to come.”
The Varsity Spirit post included a tribute video that featured an audio clip of Webb discussing the instant he realized just how much of an impact his efforts had on the sport.
“I was at UCA High School Nationals, and I looked out there — everybody had a smile on their face,” Webb said. “People think this is a little corny, but I had this almost epiphany experience. And it was just this emotion that came over me. It was, how lucky am I? How fortunate have I been to be able to have this idea and to build on it and have fabulous people kind of hook their star to my vision and for us together to build this great thing?”
Webb is survived by his wife, Gina, and his children, Jeffery and Caroline, and two grandchildren.
Puka Nacua has denied a woman’s claim that he made an antisemitic comment, says the Rams wide receiver’s attorney.
Madison Atiabi made the claim this week in an application for a temporary restraining order obtained by The Times.
Atiabi asserted in the court filing that during a group New Year’s Eve dinner, Nacua said “f— all the Jews … in a manner audible to [her] and others at the table.” Atiabi added that Nacua’s “vulgar, threatening, violent and harassing conduct” escalated as the evening progressed.
After dinner, Atiabi said she was in a car with Nacua and others when the Rams star bit her on the left shoulder, leaving a substantial bite mark that was photographed. Nacua also is alleged to have bitten the thumb of Atiabi’s friend “so forcefully that she screamed in pain,” according to the filing.
Nacua’s attorney, Levi McCathern, said he has spoken to witnesses — including other Rams players who were present — who didn’t hear Nacua make the antisemitic statement. He also said the bite was innocent “horseplay.”
“Puka denies these allegations in the strongest possible terms,” McCathern said. “We will pursue all available legal remedies in response to these false and damaging statements.”
The request for a temporary restraining order was denied by a Los Angeles Superior Court judicial officer and a hearing is scheduled for April 14.
“Our office was contacted with demands of millions of dollars in exchange for not publicizing these allegations,” McCathern told TMZ. “This is not a legitimate claim — it is blackmail.”
In December, Nacua apologized for an antisemitic gesture he made while appearing on a livestream with Adin Ross and N3on.
The livestreamers, with Nacua out of earshot, discussed whether Nacua would get in trouble if he performed a move that references an offensive stereotype about Jewish people. Ross is Jewish, but he often performs the move in his livestreams.
They suggested Nacua, who led the NFL with 129 receptions and was named an All-Pro in 2025, perform the gesture the next time he scored a touchdown.
“At the time, I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetuated hateful stereotypes against Jewish people,” Nacua wrote in his post. “I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people.”
The Rams distanced themselves from Nacua’s gesture in a statement.
“There is no place in this world for antisemitism as well as other forms of prejudice or hostility towards the Jewish people and people of any religion, ethnicity, or race,” the team said.
Dodgers fans generally hiss at the mention of Frank McCourt — the former owner took the team into bankruptcy, after all — but today is about tipping our cap to him.
Without him, fans would have no option to take public transit directly to Dodger Stadium. On his watch, the Dodgers helped secure government funding for the shuttle buses that provide free rides between Union Station and Dodger Stadium.
Sixteen years later, beyond the addition of a sister shuttle from the South Bay, that’s it.
The Dodgers boast the best team in the world. Shohei Ohtani is a tourist attraction. So is their historic ballpark. The Dodgers sold a record 4 million tickets last year.
In 1990, the last year Fernando Valenzuela pitched for the Dodgers, Los Angeles County unveiled a report that suggested ways to improve access to Dodger Stadium “for those who cannot or do not wish to drive.”
The options: a monorail, people mover, or light rail extension from the Chinatown Metro station; the shuttle buses that McCourt and Metro launched 20 years later; the gondola that McCourt first pitched in 2018 and continues to pursue; and a walking path.
A passenger exits the Chinatown Metro station in January.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
L.A. is all about the car. You will most likely drive to Dodger Stadium, and so will your children.
For decades, the Dodgers have promised to ease traffic by adding amenities that encourage fans to come early and stick around after the game. That has not materialized, and notorious congestion within and around the stadium is as much a tradition as Dodger Dogs.
What if you could walk, for real? What if you could head into the stadium along a beautifully landscaped and wide Dodgers-themed path, a blue ribbon of fans coalescing into a community, with decorations and food carts, shade and lighting, and chants of “Let’s Go Dodgers!” along the way?
You can walk now, sort of. It’s about a mile.
There’s a map at the Chinatown Metro station displaying the pedestrian path toward Dodger Stadium.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
At one end of the Chinatown station, there is a map with a pedestrian route, in a glass case that faces away from Dodger Stadium. If you walk out of the station at the other end, or if you just start heading in the direction of Dodger Stadium, good luck finding the map.
There are Metro signs leading you back to the station from Dodger Stadium, but none leading you along the route there.
The Dodgers actually would prefer you did not take that route, or at least the last part of it. I walked it with Alissa Walker, whose Torched newsletter is the go-to place to learn how major sporting events impact the everyday lives of Angelenos.
We entered the Dodger Stadium property at an intersection with no crosswalks, where cars enter and exit the 110 freeway. We stood atop a dirt patch next to a crumbling curb.
“To go a very short distance safely with a feeling that you’re not going to die,” Walker said, “is very difficult.”
With Game 3 of the World Series underway at Dodger Stadium last October, a few folks scurried across a pedestrian bridge with LED lights and blue glow sticks.
The bridge connects Chinatown with Dodger Stadium, traversing the 110. Without this bridge, there is no walking path to Dodger Stadium.
At night, the bridge offers magnificent views of downtown lights. But it had no lights of its own, so the volunteers used the LED lights and glow sticks to attach homemade Dodgers-themed signage to the fence that encloses the bridge.
“Our goal was, just by adding some lights, to make the really dark path at the top of the bridge at night a little bit brighter, so that it felt a little less scary,” transit advocate Jeremy Stutes said, “and to add a little bit of fun and whimsy.”
Glow sticks forming the “LA” logo of the Dodgers were placed on a pedestrian bridge over the 110 Freeway connecting Chinatown to the area where Dodger Stadium is located during the World Series and for several months after. As of last week, the glow sticks were no longer there.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
From the Chinatown Metro station, the bridge is three blocks up College Street and one block down Yale Street. It’s an easy walk, and for now you pass an elementary school, a church, a row of Chinese restaurants, a dirt lot where a hospital once stood, parking lots, and an auto repair facility with a Dodgers flag hung on a wall.
When I did the walk last week, the trash at the foot of the bridge included a plastic cup, socks, a piece of rotting fruit, a half-full bottle of tequila, and half of a turkey sandwich, peeking out from torn plastic wrapping that indicated the sandwich had gone bad three days earlier. On the bridge: shopping bags, a pair of flip-flops, stray clothes scattered at one end, and graffiti everywhere.
A sign painted on the sidewalk indicates the direction toward the Chinatown Metro station.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
That was the point those volunteers made last October: Clean up the bridge and light up the bridge — as they did for three days — and fans will walk there.
“It’s not that it’s not used,” Stutes said. “It’s not designed to be a safe space to use as an alternative to driving.”
When you cross the bridge, you can turn right or left along Stadium Way to get to a stadium entrance.
Turn right, as the map tells you to do, and you’ll encounter decaying sidewalks, with cracked and buckled concrete that turns a modest uphill walk into an obstacle course. Once you get onto the stadium grounds, the paint is fading along the pedestrian path, which offers you no protection from passing cars.
Turn left, and you’ll have to walk part of the way in the street, on an unprotected bike lane. You also could walk along the road behind the Fire Department training center, a path with no sidewalks and passing fire trucks. Either route takes longer than the one on the map, but you would enter Dodger Stadium through a pair of protected and brightly painted pedestrian paths. (That entrance, along Vin Scully Avenue, is a quarter-mile from Sunset Boulevard, where two Metro bus routes stop.)
If the primary choices for getting out of Dodger Stadium after a game are car congestion or Dodger Stadium Express shuttle bus congestion, a downhill walk to Chinatown Metro station — 12 minutes, Metro says — would be a nice option. That’s why those folks lit up the bridge over the freeway during the World Series.
“The lights were just a fun way,” transit advocate Kevin Dedicatoria said, “to show, ‘Hey, here’s a bridge so you don’t have to play, ‘Dude, where’s my car?’ or have to worry about waiting for the bus.’”
McCourt hails from Boston, where the local subway drops Red Sox fans a few short blocks from Fenway Park. When McCourt owned the Dodgers, I asked him if he could envision a subway or light rail extension to Dodger Stadium.
He’d love it, he said then, but the Dodgers were a private business, and government should pay for public transit.
Homes line a street in Eylsian Park, where Dodger Stadium is located.
(ETIENNE LAURENT/For The Times)
It was a fair point. The Dodgers pay taxes. In an era where teams regularly demand stadium and arena deals that exempt them from property tax, the Dodgers have paid $12.8 million in property taxes over the past three years, according to Los Angeles County tax collection records.
Would demand for public transit amid a car culture justify the investment? The Dodger Stadium Express indicates it could: Ridership has just about quadrupled since its inaugural season, from 122,273 in 2010 to 463,147 last year, according to Metro.
Even along the poorly maintained, poorly lit and poorly advertised pedestrian path, Metro said more than 700 riders returned to the Chinatown station on each of the three nights of World Series home games last year.
“As seen in social media videos during the 2025 postseason, the walking path continues to explode in popularity,” Metro spokesman Jose Ubaldo said.
Next steps?
“It’s astonishing to me that the Dodgers have not taken it upon themselves, as this great community partner, to fix this problem,” Walker said. “It is the city’s responsibility, but the Dodgers should be doing this, as part of what they want to represent to this community.”
The walking path includes segments along city streets, a Caltrans bridge, and Dodger Stadium property. Just who is the responsible party?
A Caltrans spokesman said the city is responsible for maintaining the bridge. A spokesman for the city’s department of street services did not provide an answer. A spokesman for the Dodgers declined to comment.
You could almost hear the sigh from city councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes Dodger Stadium.
“That’s what my job is: to bring people and agencies and organizations together to accomplish a goal,” Hernandez said. “We’re already in conversation with all these entities.
“We’re looking at some of the things we can enhance to make this a more walkable and accessible option for people.”
City Council member Eunisses Hernandez, center, talks with Circle outreach workers in Los Angeles.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
How much might those enhancements cost?
Without a look at a city-commissioned Dodger Stadium traffic mitigation study, expected to be completed this fall, Hernandez said she could not put a price tag on it.
“What I can tell you,” she said, “is that it will be less than half a billion dollars, for sure.”
By year’s end, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on McCourt’s gondola project, estimated to cost $500 million and proposed as privately financed. Last November, the council voted 12-1 to urge Metro to kill the project.
Metro granted its approval, but with conditions that included a requirement to explore supplementing the gondola with other Dodger Stadium transit options, including more buses along Sunset Boulevard and a designated walkway from there to the stadium.
The walking path proposed in that 1990 study would have avoided Sunset Boulevard and the current Stadium Way routes — the ones with crumbling sidewalks, or no sidewalks at all — by using escalators and walkways to get fans up and down the hill between Lookout Drive, just off Stadium Way, and Dodger Stadium.
“Pedestrians could be directed through Chinatown,” the study read, “where numerous restaurants, shops and pedestrian amenities are provided.”
It’s hard to sell Chinatown businesses on the benefits of the gondola when fans would ride between Union Station and Dodger Stadium, soaring over Chinatown. It would be easier if a walking path led at least some of those fans through Chinatown, even if only on the way back from the game.
Even if the gondola system really can accomplish what its proponents say it can — loading 35 people into a cabin every 23 seconds — thousands of riders leaving when the game ends could mean a long line to board.
One of the entrances to Dodger Stadium on Stadium Way, the easiest access when walking from Chinatown Metro station.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
“Also,” the 1990 study said, “passenger waiting following a game is psychologically perceived as being three to four times longer than actual waiting time.”
From this perspective, McCourt might win a few council votes by funding a first-class walking path. The cost, I’m told, would depend on what the enhancements include: signs, lights, trees, shade canopies, sidewalk repairs, escalators, and so on. For something close to $5 million — one one-hundredth of the projected cost of gondola construction — McCourt likely could do an exceptional job.
Is there any sign of progress here? Happily, yes.
In an internal report last December, Metro said Zero Emissions Transit (ZET) — the nonprofit organization now shepherding the gondola project — is pursuing ways to link pedestrians and bicyclists to the transit system and to Dodger Stadium. Those potential improvements include sidewalk repairs and a revitalized pedestrian pathway from the Chinatown Metro station to the bridge across the 110 and then across Stadium Way, to Lookout Drive and the hill above.
“Dodger Walk is envisioned as a series of switchbacks,” the report said, “inspired by the original walking path up Lookout Mountain that existed prior to the construction of Dodger Stadium.”
Whether such switchbacks would make the walk to the stadium longer or shorter than the current path remains to be determined.
In a statement, ZET said: “We embrace and include active transit solutions to increase pedestrian and bike access throughout the project area.” In particular, ZET said, it was “supportive” of a walking path to Dodger Stadium.
The Metro report cautioned the concepts “are in the early planning stage,” so L.A. might get an extravagant walking path, a utilitarian one, or none at all.
Here’s hoping McCourt gives us a path of some kind — whether the city approves the gondola or not — because a pretty walk generations can enjoy would be a prettier civic legacy than driving a team into bankruptcy.
Nigel Dewale, 60, admitted sending abusive messages over social media during the 2025 Women’s Euros.
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From Maddie Lee: Shohei Ohtani’s three straight strikeouts in the fourth inning of his final spring start Tuesday featured a different putaway pitch for each.
He got Angels slugger Jorge Soler to whiff on a sweeper. Jeimer Candelario went down on a curveball. And Jo Adell struck out on a fastball.
“Just shows the confidence he has and different ways he had to attack guys, to get ahead and also put guys away,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 3-0 loss to the Angels in the Freeway Series finale. “And today the feel was really good, even better than the first outing.”
Pretty much everything was clicking for Ohtani heading into the regular season, even though it was only his second spring training start on the mound. Ohtani recorded 11 strikeouts in four-plus innings. He held the Angels to four hits, three of which were consecutive singles in the fifth, and was charged with three runs, all scored in the fifth.
For the first time in three years, Ohtani is set to begin the season as a fully healthy pitcher. And it will be the Dodgers’ first time managing his two-way schedule all year. Limited the last two seasons by his recovery and build-up from elbow surgery, Ohtani last made 20-plus starts in 2023 with the Angels.
“The desire is high,” Roberts said when asked about Ohtani’s aim to pitch wall to wall. “I think it’s realistic. Then the bigger question is, how are we going to manage that and navigate it?”
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From Steve Galluzzo: Anxious may be the best word to describe the vibe in Anaheim before the Angels fly to Houston ahead of Thursday afternoon’s season opener versus the Astros.
New manager Kurt Suzuki has infused enthusiasm into a club that has not finished above .500 since 2015 and has missed the playoffs for an MLB-worst 11 straight seasons. The Angels went 72-90 and finished last in the American League West, though they were nine games better than 2024 — when they set a franchise record for losses with 99. Time will tell if the Halos have enough talent to contend in a division the Seattle Mariners are heavily favored to win.
A special assistant for the Angels the last three seasons, Suzuki signed a one-year contract last October and is the team’s fifth full-time manager since Mike Scioscia stepped down in 2018 after compiling a franchise-record 1,650 victories over 19 seasons. Suzuki spent 16 seasons as a major league catcher, retiring in 2022.
“It’s been fun,” Suzuki said prior to Sunday’s Freeway Series game, a 13-5 loss to the Dodgers at Angel Stadium. “Obviously I’ve never managed before but just being out of the game just as recently as a few years ago I understand the situations of the game, the speed of the game and those type of things. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy by any means. It’s a lot of work, but I’m having a great time, we’re surrounded by great people and the guys have been awesome so it’s been all good.”
As a former player, Suzuki will trust his instincts.
“For me, it’s attention to detail, it’s fundamentals, it’s just really being a baseball player,” he said. “Sometimes in this day and age of analytics and all that stuff you can kind of get lost in that sometimes. Not to say forget about it, but I think the more you can just play baseball how it’s supposed to be played, move guys over, situational hitting, things you grew up doing, if we can kind of keep that style and play hard and all that, I like our chances.”
From Bill Shaikin: Two decades after owner Arte Moreno decided the Angels should play under the Los Angeles name, elected officials representing Anaheim are pursuing two paths toward getting their hometown back into the team name.
Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, whose district includes Angel Stadium, has introduced state legislation that could require any sale or new lease of the stadium property be conditioned upon the team reverting to the Anaheim Angels name.
Meanwhile, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has asked the city attorney to explore whether the Angels have violated their current lease by dropping the Anaheim name from legal documents.
From Mirjam Swanson: Absolutely, this is the best team in UCLA women’s basketball history.
Not the best team in the country this year, but truly a testament to teamwork and hard work and talent retention.
Whether UCLA wins it all this season or not, the Bruins are the envy of teams everywhere, including Oklahoma State, whose season they ended with an 87-68 second-round victory Monday. Afterward, UCLA’s six seniors joined their teammates in one last victory lap around the court, waving to fans, soaking in the adoration, on their way to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season.
“Seeing a team who gets to host, a team who has stayed together, for the most part, they get to experience all the things that all of us want, and that is so incredibly rare and hard and special,” Oklahoma State coach Jacie Hoyt said.
But how much further those things will take these Bruins in the NCAA tournament after they fought off Oklahoma State?
Maybe all the way, but maybe not.
Yegor Sharangovich scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lead the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Kings on Tuesday night.
Olli Maatta and Zayne Parekh, each with their first goals of the season, scored in regulation time for the Flames, who have won four games in a row for the first time this season. Dustin Wolf stopped 23 shots.
Quinton Byfield scored both goals and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for the Kings, who have points in seven of their last nine but just three victories. They have dropped four straight.
Mikael Granlund scored twice, Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist, and the Ducks beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Mason McTavish and Troy Terry also scored for the Ducks, while John Carlson had three assists and Lukas Dostal stopped 27 shots.
The Ducks grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second period, only to see Vancouver rally and tie the score twice before McTavish scored the winner at the 5:45 mark of the third.
1934 — Horton Smith wins the first Masters golf tournament by one stroke over Craig Wood.
1947 — Holy Cross, led by George Kaftan, beats Oklahoma 58-47 in the NCAA basketball championship.
1958 — Sugar Ray Robinson regains the middleweight title for a record fifth time with a 15-round decision over Carmen Basilio.
1961 — Cincinnati ends Ohio State’s 32-game winning streak with a 70-65 win in the NCAA basketball championship. In the third-place game, St. Joseph’s beats Utah 127-120 in quadruple-overtime.
1967 — UCLA, led by sophomore Lew Alcindor’s 20 points, beats Dayton 79-64 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1972 — Bill Walton scores 24 points to lead UCLA to an 81-76 victory over Florida State and the NCAA basketball title.
1972 — Maryland beats Niagara 100-69 in the NIT championship, becoming the first team to score 100 points in the finals of the tournament.
1973 — The Philadelphia 76ers post the worst mark in NBA history at 9-73 under coaches Roy Rubin (4-47) and Kevin Loughery (5-26).
1982 — Wayne Gretzky becomes the first NHL player to score 200 points in a season.
1995 — Scotty Bowman gets his 900th regular-season coaching victory as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Canucks 2-1 in Vancouver.
2006 — Following the tradition of teenage American women pulling off big upsets, 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner uses the performance of her life to soar to the World Figure Skating Championships title.
2008 — Tennessee gives coach Pat Summitt her 100th NCAA tournament win, a 78-52 rout of host Purdue. The win sends the Lady Vols to the NCAA regional semifinals.
2011 — The Southwest regional is the first in NCAA men’s basketball history with three double-digit seeded teams in the semifinals. Virginia Commonwealth, an 11th seed beats 10th seed Florida State 72-71 in overtime and the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks beat No. 12 seed Richmond 77-57 in the region’s other semifinal.
2012 — In the NBA’s first quadruple-overtime game since 1997, Joe Johnson scores 37 points and Josh Smith adds 22 as the Atlanta Hawks beat Utah 139-133. The four overtimes tie for the third-longest game in NBA history.
2016 — Klay Thompson scores 40 points and Stephen Curry adds 33 to help the Golden State Warriors become the second team to post back-to-back 65-win seasons with a 128-120 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors improve their record to 65-7 following a 67-win season a year ago. The only other team to win at least 65 games in consecutive seasons was Chicago in 1995-96 and 1996-97.
2017 — Arrogate shows his class again in the $10 million Dubai World Cup as he comes from last place to win by an impressive 2 1/4 lengths.
Compiled by the Associated Press
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Call them the Geek Squad, the Surfer Dudes or the Genius Squad from Redondo Union High.
In an unprecedented achievement, three starters for the Sea Hawks’ 13-2 volleyball team — Tommy Spalding, Vaughan Flaherty and Carter Mirabal — are headed to MIT this fall.
Their final assignment in Advanced Placement Physics 2 should be figuring out the astronomical odds of how three best friends from the same volleyball team could be admitted to one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
“There’s no way,” was the reaction of Mirabal’s father when he heard the news.
“It’s crazy,” coach Kevin Norman said.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple hanging out in a garage. Who knows what inventions, ideas or technological feats will be imagined in gyms or on surfboards as these three Southern California teenagers unleash their brain power and love for having fun on the East Coast.
“Probably twice a week, I’ll call him, ‘Yo, I have this idea,’” Spalding said of his conversations with Mirabal. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, we usually don’t do anything about it. But it’s throwing ideas out there and hopefully one is going to stick.”
One Spalding idea: “When I was driving home from Joshua Tree, I was stuck in traffic. I was like, ‘Dude, what if we made a Google Maps type of app that utilized AI and had a camera in your car that analyzed the road, tells you what lane to be in to go the fastest and also be able to look at the traffic lights and tell you if this left arrow is red, then go straight, turn left at the next street.”
Elon Musk, beware.
MIT-bound Redondo Union volleyball players Tommy Spalding, left, Vaughan Flaherty and Carter Mirabal.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
They’ve formed a band, “Ratiohead,” a parody of the English rock band Radiohead, with lyrics from math. They’re preparing for the battle of the bands. Spalding is the vocalist, Maribal is on keyboard and Flaherty, the 6-foot-5 redhead, plays guitar.
“We’re looking for a drummer,” Spalding said.
Spalding has a 4.65 GPA and 1490 SAT score. Flaherty is at 4.4 and 1560. Mirabal is at 4.4 and 1510. Spalding said his hardest class was AP European history. Mirabal chose honors chemistry. Each received one B in four years of high school. Flaherty has received multiple Bs and said, “I think it goes to show you that you don’t have to be perfect to get into these schools if you have the potential and you’re willing to work hard and be a good fit.”
Flaherty is so witty he might be able to do a comedy routine, with Spalding serving as his wing man.
“Someone might have messed up, but I’m not going to tell them,” Flaherty said of the threesome earning a spot in the MIT class of 2030.
“Maybe it was chemistry,” Spalding quipped.
If they can make a movie, “The Social Network,” about the invention of Facebook. and a TV series, “Big Bang Theory,” about smart geeks, just wait until someone figures out the entertainment value following around this threesome.
Coming Wednesday in L.A. Times is one of my favorite stories. How 3 Redondo Union volleyball players were accepted to . . . MIT. Yes, it’s hard to believe and the players are talented in many things. Here’s Tommy Spalding and Carter Miribal, part of the new band, “Ratiohead.” pic.twitter.com/MBWvPXvIxF
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) March 25, 2026
Spalding has all the attributes of a future entrepreneur and loves tinkering with cars. He sent a two-minute video to MIT as part of his application process that showed himself and his father, Michael, turning a 2002 yellow school bus into an RV.
Mirabal has his own YouTube channel, “Carter’s Stuff Review.” He wants to be a mechanical engineer and explore the business side. Flaherty would be happy sending rockets and satellites into space while living near the beach.
All three hang out at the beach, either playing volleyball or surfing. Spalding brought his grandfather’s ping-pong table to the volleyball room at school for more fun. Cornhole is another game they play.
None set out at the beginning of high school seeking a path that leads to MIT, which accepts only about five students for every 100 applicants. “We weren’t taking the classes because we want to go to MIT,” Spalding said. “We just enjoy the subjects.”
There are smart genes in their families. Spalding’s parents are both educators, one an AP physics teacher at Peninsula High, the other a middle school vice principal. Mirabal’s father is an accountant. Flaherty’s father owns two Handel’s ice cream stores (everyone wants to hang out with Flaherty on a hot day).
Each has a story to tell about how they learned of being accepted to MIT.
Mirabal was playing volleyball in his backyard on Dec. 15 with teammates. He was going to wait until his friends left to check the email for fear of rejection. Instead, with them huddled around, he opened the email and everyone started screaming, “Yo!”
Spalding was with Mirabal and headed home to share the moment with his parents when he received a text from the MIT volleyball coach walking out the door congratulating him. “Welcome to the MIT family,” it read.
Flaherty had to wait until March 14 — Pi Day — to see if he was going to make it three for three.
He was driving home from Joshua Tree national park with his girlfriend and Tommy’s girlfriend in the car. The traffic was so bad it came to a standstill so he checked his cellphone.
“I opened it up. I saw the confetti but didn’t realize what it meant until I got a couple lines down,” he said. “The first reaction was disbelief because I thought there was no chance after these two got in.”
In fact, Flaherty said the person doing the MIT interview admitted later, “I’m not going to lie. I thought that was the killer for your application.”
They’ll be playing NCAA Division III volleyball. Mirabal and Spalding will be roommates. “Vaughan will room with someone else because he said he’d be too comfortable with us and be a bad roommate,” Spalding said.
So are they really OK leaving Southern California?
“I wouldn’t say OK with it,” Spalding said.
“It is a sacrifice,” Mirabal said.
Just know the beach will always draw them back to sunny Southern California as the three sat in the Redondo Union volleyball locker room wearing shorts, sandals and their MIT shirts.
“As much as we study, I feel at the end of the day we want to have fun,” Spalding said.
They’re not expecting to re-create “Animal House” at MIT, but let’s see what happens when three surfer dudes from the same high school in California show up with open minds and lots of ideas to explore.
For Nareg Kopooshian, the basketball coach at AGBU High in Canoga Park, there’s a big summer ahead. He’s going to be the head coach for the U16 Armenian national team in the FIBA U16 EuroBasket competition July 4-12 in Yerevan.
It’s the first time Armenia is hosting the event.
Los Angeles has the largest Armenian community in the United States with as many as 700,000 people.
Players selected for the training camp in Armenia include Anthony Sarkesian (Chaminade), Anthony Karayan (Village Christian), Ethan Kazanjian (AGBU), Edward Gemjian (La Canada) and Jivan Dorian (AGBU).
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
The Major League Baseball Players Assn. is arguably the strongest union in the United States whose members include some of the most conservative athletes in professional sports. The owners of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, who made their wealth through the workings of free enterprise capitalism, want to limit what players can be paid. This apparent political and philosophical irony will most likely lead to a shutdown of baseball at the end of this season.
Wednesday is opening day for the 162-game major league season. The 2025 season ended Nov. 1 with an 11-inning Dodgers victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in what was one of the most mesmerizing World Series ever. Last season, the Dodgers attracted more than 4 million fans for the first time. The Dodgers weren’t alone. More than 71 million fans attended major league games — the third straight season of growth. Over the last decade, league revenue has increased 33%.
And yet, despite all this good news about the health of baseball’s finances, team owners have threatened to lock the players out — essentially an ownership strike — at the end of this season over terms of a new collective bargaining agreement soon to be negotiated with the players union.
Major League Baseball, unlike the NFL, the NBA and the NHL, does not have a hard salary cap that limits what teams can spend on players. This is the key issue for the 30 team owners and Commissioner Rob Manfred, who argues that the system is “broken.” Small-market teams can’t effectively compete, Manfred insists, with economic behemoths like the Dodgers and Yankees. But over the past 10 seasons, 14 teams have made it to the World Series, so the league is not dominated by only a few big spenders.
Major leaguers and fans have weathered five player strikes and four owner lockouts since 1972. The 1994-95 strike lasted 232 days, canceling more than 900 games, including the World Series. Unlike in the NFL, where top players like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana crossed a picket line during the 1987 NFL Players Assn. strike, unionized baseball players have remained united. So far, no star players have been strikebreakers in baseball. Both Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers — the 2025 Cy Young Award winners for their respective leagues — also serve in players union leadership roles.
A recent report analyzing major league ballplayers’ political affiliation found that among those who live in states that allow public access to voter registration records, nearly 54% of the players were Republicans compared with 8% Democrats. Why does a rightward-leaning membership retain such strong union loyalties?
For Miami Marlins pitcher Pete Fairbanks, who is also a member of the players union leadership, it comes down to recognizing that they stand on the shoulders of players who challenged the baseball establishment.
“If you look at the history of the union, we’ve had a foundation set for us,” Fairbanks said. “They fought for players’ rights and for the general betterment of the whole and it’s the job of the veteran players to pass that history on to the younger players.”
Marvin Miller, a former Steelworkers Union leader, revolutionized the players’ union and baseball when he led the association from 1966 to 1982. He told the New York Times in 1999 that he was “irked” that many players did not know that it was the union that made their enormous salaries and benefits, arbitration and free agency possible. “When you don’t know your history, you tend to relive it,” Miller said.
Miller, who died in 2012, was a labor history buff who realized that highly skilled workers often developed elaborate ethical codes that promoted solidarity with other employees.
Bruce Meyer, the current executive director of the players association, puts the union’s fractious history with the owners at the center of his communications with players. He spent weeks talking with union members during spring training in Florida and Arizona, emphasizing the importance of unity in the ranks. “The bottom line is that our players have always been of the view that they are fighting not just for themselves but for their teammates and for the players that come after them,” Meyer said.
Manfred’s strategy as commissioner of Major League Baseball has been to talk directly with the players himself, especially the lower-earning younger players who he claims are being shortchanged. He argues that “10% of our players make 72% of the money,” numbers that Meyer disputes.
The commissioner is essentially telling players that their union has engaged in malpractice, losing touch with its own members while the economics of baseball changed around them. Meyer regards Manfred’s attempt to divide players as “standard management-labor tactics.”
Top agent Scott Boras said that, unlike in the NFL, baseball’s open salary system works for players because “your talent allows you to earn what you can earn without taking money from anybody else’s pocket.”
Paradoxically, the union has embraced the principles of Adam Smith: Let the free market work. No one forced the Dodgers to pay Shohei Ohtani $700 million. Good for Ohtani, great for Dodger fans. And this year, the Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo will be a field sponsor at Dodger Stadium. The owners, who embrace team revenue sharing and luxury taxes and demand restrictions on salary competition, sound like socialists.
When labor-management disputes interrupt baseball, many fans undoubtedly feel like they are victims of a squabble between “millionaires and billionaires.” Ryan Long, a 26-year-old minor league pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles system and a union leader, thinks the players association should try to understand how regular working people feel about a potential lockout. “Whether it’s people selling hot dogs at stadiums or cleaning rooms at local hotels, the union should help in whatever way it can for other workers who may be hurt if baseball shuts down,” he said.
In late February at the Yankees spring training field in Tampa, I spoke with season ticket holder Richard Barnitt, who wore a shirt designed like a baseball, looking like he could be scuffed up and pitched. “There has to be some kind of cap because the Dodgers and the New York Mets had unlimited money,” he said. Another fan, Carlos Rodriquez, an airplane mechanic living in Tampa, disagreed. “I don’t think a salary cap would be fair to the players,” he said. “The players association does magical work for those guys.”
If locked out, the players are going to want support from fans, to whom a salary cap might sound reasonable. Owners will do what owners do: maximize profits and franchise values. The players union should find ways to show the fans they are not forgotten.
During a previous owners lockout, the association created a million-dollar fund to help pay the bills of stadium concession workers who were thrown out of work. They can do the same again, letting fans know that they understand that most Americans struggle paycheck to paycheck. And maybe Ohtani can chip in a couple hundred bucks — like former Dodger Mike Piazza did decades ago — for each home run.
Kelly Candaele produced the documentary “A League of Their Own,” about his mother’s years playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL, SOFTBALL SCORES
Tuesday’s Results
BASEBALL
CITY SECTION
El Camino Real 8, Birmingham 3
SOUTHERN SECTION
AAE 19, Victor Valley Christian 5
Adelanto 11, Silverado 3
Alhambra 8, Bell Gardens 0
Aliso Niguel 7, Tesoro 4
Arcadia 10, Pasadena 0
Alta Loma 6, Colony 5
Beverly Hills 5, Lawndale 4
Buena 4, Ventura 0
Burbank Burroughs 6, Muir 0
Cajon 7, Riverside Prep 3
Calabasas 10, Thousand Oaks 9
Capistrano Valley 14, El Toro 8
Capistrano Valley Christian 6, Western Christian 4
Cathedral 1, Bishop Montgomery 0
Cerritos 7, Artesia 0
Charter Oak 13, Walnut 5
Chino 5, Montclair 4
Chino Hills 12, La Serna 3
CIMSA 12, Silver Valley 5
Claremont 12, Rowland 0
Colton 5, Fontana 2
Culver City 11, Inglewood 3
Damien 8, La Habra 3
Desert Christian 6, Vasquez 1
Desert Hot Springs 5, Banning 4
Diamond Bar 7, Knight 0
Don Lugo 11, Diamond Ranch 1
Downey Calvary Chapel 7, Fairmont Prep 6
El Modena 3, Villa Park 0
Elsinore 9, Temescal Canyon 1
Environmental Charter 17, Compton Early College 7
Fallbrook 8, Rancho Buena Vista 5
Firebaugh 6, Lynwood 5
Fountain Valley 1, Corona del Mar 0
Fullerton 7, Ocean View 5
Glenn 4, Whitney 3
Grace 14, Cate 2
Granite Hills 6, Victor Valley 1
Hawthorne 3, Compton Centennial 2
Irvine 3, Woodbridge 2
Laguna Beach 17, St. Margaret’s 2
Laguna Hills 3, Costa Mesa 1
La Mirada 5, Gahr 1
La Salle 15, Gardena Serra 0
La Sierra 11, West Valley 2
Los Alamitos 4, Marina 0
Los Altos 13, West Covina 2
Los Amigos 15, Santa Ana Valley 9
Magnolia 8, Graden Grove Santiago 4
Maranatha 14, Heritage Christian 2
Mary Star of the Sea 23, St. Genevieve 11
Montebello 13, Mark Keppel 0
Murrieta Valley 6, Murrieta Mesa 5
Newport Harbor 9, Edison 0
Norte Vista 22, Bethel Christian 1
Norwalk 7, Mayfair 4
Nuview Bridge 20, California Military Institute 0
Oaks Christian 5, Newbury Park 2
Oakwood 15, Milken 10
Ontario 5, Chaffey 0
Orange 7, Anaheim 5
Oxnard 3, Santa Barbara 1
Oxnard Pacifica 9, Rio Mesa 2
PACS 14, Faith Baptist 3
Paraclete 13, St. Anthony 1
Paramount 9, Dominguez 6
Riverside North 5, Vista del Lago 1
Rosamond 2, California City 1
Royal 8, Foothill Tech 1
Sage Hill 1, Irvine University 0
San Juan Hills 3, Mission Viejo 2
San Marino 4, Monrovia 1
Santa Monica 10, Leuzinger 1
Savanna 7, Loara 5
Schurr 10, San Gabriel 0
Segerstrom 8, Buena Park 6
Shalhevet 7, Animo leadership 0
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 10, Crespi 0
Sierra Canyon 8, Chaminade 2
South Hills 4, San Dimas 0
St. Bernard 5, Bishop Amat 4
St. Bonaventure 8, Thacher 3
St. Francis 6, Alemany 4
St. Monica 21, Pasadena Marshall 3
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 19, Verbum Dei 0
Tahquitz 3, San Jacinto 1
Temecula Prep 16, United Christian Academy 4
Temecula Valley 13, Chaparral 0
Trabuco Hills 8, San Clemente 1
Tustin 11, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 6
Village Christian 13, Valley Christian 11
Vista Murrieta 4, Great Oak 2
Warren 2, Bellflower 0
Westlake 2, Agoura 1
Westminster La Quinta 7, Century 2
Whittier Christian 11, St. Paul 3
YULA 8, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 7
INTERSECTIONAL
Anza Hamilton 17, Bonsall 7
Bishop Union 11, Frazier Mountain 0
Boron 17, Desert 1
Carson 4, Ramona 3
Eastvale Roosevelt 3, Nevada McQueen 1
Esperanza 14, Arkansas Prairie Grove 4
Grand Terrace 6, Nevada McQueen 0
Immanuel Christian 21, Trona 9
Missouri Lincoln 13, Grand Terrace 1
Northview 10, Spanish Springs 4
Oregon Lakeridge 5, La Palma Kennedy 4
Oregon West Linn 3, Citrus Valley 2
Quartz Hill 15, Oregon Bend 2
SOFTBALL
CITY SECTION
CALS Early College 0, East College Prep 0
Central City Value 40, Discovery 11
SOUTHERN SECTION
Alemany 4, Vasquez 0
Aliso Niguel 11, Redondo Union 4
Anaheim Canyon 7, Segerstrom 1
Ayala 5, Bonita 0
Banning 8, Desert Hot Springs 3
Barstow 14, Ridgecrest Burroughs 7
Beaumont 6, Rancho Cucamonga 2
Bell Gardens 14, San Gabriel 3
Bethel Christian 26, Norte Vista 4
California City 15, Rosamond 3
California Military 21, Nuview Bridge 2
Cantwell-Sacred Heart 9, St. Monica 4
Cerritos 11, El Rancho 4
Channel Islands 15, Carpinteria 4
Chino 11, Montclair 0
Chino Hills 12, Temescal Canyon 5
CIMSA 19, Silver Valley 4
Claremont 6, Northview 4
Cornerstone Christian 14, Packinghouse Christian 8
Corona Santiago 8, Colony 5
Covina 4, Buena Park 3
Cypress 8, El Modena 2
Don Lugo 3, Diamond Ranch 2
Downey 10, Corona 2
Edison 9, Corona del Mar 0
El Dorado 3, Yorba Linda 0
El Toro 2, Tesoro 1
Esperanza 21, Troy 2
Fillmore 5, Santa Paula 4
Hart 11, Golden Valley 1
Hawthorne 15, Compton Centennial 0
Hueneme 11, Nordhoff 5
Huntington Beach 17, Fountain Valley 0
La Habra 9, Garden Grove Pacifica 4
Lakewood 15, Long Beach Cabrillo 1
La Palma Kennedy 2, Gahr 0
La Salle 11, Flintridge Sacred Heart 3
Lawndale 30, Beverly Hills 20
Lennox Academy 14, HMSA 3
Long Beach Poly 15, Long Beach Wilson 5
Los Alamitos 10, Newport Harbor 0
Los Altos 12, Alta Loma 0
Maranatha 15, Duarte 5
Mary Star of the Sea 21, St. Anthony 5
Mira Costa 7, South Torrance 2
Mission Viejo 5, Sunny Hills 3
Montebello 10, Mark Keppel 9
Monrovia 4, San Marino 3
Murrieta Mesa 7, Great Oak 0
Murrieta Valley 13, Temecula Valley 2
Oak Park 16, Royal 12
Oaks Christian 9, Newbury Park 3
Ontario 11, Chaffey 1
Placentia Valencia 8, Tustin 4
Ramona Convent 10, Bishop Conaty-Loreto 0
Rio Hondo Prep 12, Mayfield 8
Rio Mesa 14, Oxnard Pacifica 0
Rosary Academy 7, Irvine University 6
Sacred Heart of Jesus 12, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 1
Santa Ana Foothill 6, Crean Lutheran 1
Santa Clara 4, Foothill Tech 2
Santa Monica 8, Leuzinger 4
Saugus 11, West Ranch 8
Schurr 11, Alhambra 1
Serrano 14, Riverside Notre Dame 4
Sierra Canyon 4, Chaminade 3
Silverado 22, Adelanto 3
Simi Valley 8, Camarillo 2
St. Genevieve 18, St. Bernard 3
St. Paul 14, Bishop Montgomery 2
Temecula Prep 16, Santa Rosa Academy 7
Thousand Oaks 30, Calabasas 0
Valencia 8, Castaic 6
Ventura 12, Buena 7
Victor Valley 8, Granite Hills 4
Westlake 1, Agoura 0
Westminster 15 Long Beach Jordan 5
Whittier Christian 16, Village Christian 5
Wiseburn-Da Vinci 22, Downey Calvary Chapel 1
INTERSECTIONAL
Boron 16, Desert 1
Canyon Country Canyon 15, Arleta 5
Compton Early College 23, Environmental Charter 19
Immanuel Christian 12, Trona 10
Jesuit 5, Trabuco Hills 4
Santa Margarita 1, Jesuit 0
Scotland assistant coach Steven Naismith hailed Curtis’ drive to move out on loan and not be content with being a squad player at Rangers.
“This desire, this instinctive nature to get chances,” Naismith added on BBC Sportscene when analysing the youngster’s weekend goal.
“He’s got a bit of pace, he’s direct, he commits defenders – these are all things that have caught the eye.”
Former Celtic and Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan added on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast: “When we don’t have Gannon-Doak, we don’t have someone who can really travel with the ball. Curtis does have that.
“Yes, he’s still developing and doesn’t always have that final ball, but that can be worked on. We aren’t blessed with a lot of pace, especially in the attacking areas.
“You have to have pace in those areas, especially when at times we’ll be forced back and when we’re then trying to get up the pitch. Players with pace can be the difference.”
Wales had endured more than half a century in the international wilderness, absent from major tournaments since the 1958 World Cup.
There followed decades of false dawns and agonising stumbles at final hurdles, until a golden generation of players emerged to inspire a new hope.
Bale, Aaron Ramsey and the rest had been around a while by the time the Euro 2016 campaign came around and, as those stellar talents approached their peak, they were ready to take Wales to new heights.
“There was definitely optimism, a quiet belief I would say,” says Hal Robson-Kanu, the former Wales forward who started up front against Bosnia.
“We’d begun to get results which typically you wouldn’t expect Wales to get at that level. We knew we could do something special.”
Having won three and drawn two of their first five qualifiers, Wales truly started to believe this could be their time when they beat Belgium – then ranked second in the world – in Cardiff.
Coleman’s side then missed the opportunity to seal qualification when they were held to a goalless draw by Israel but knew a point in Bosnia or at home to minnows Andorra would get them over the line.
And so to that night in Zenica, a hard, industrial city in the heart of Bosnia, soaked by driving rain.
Even with the security of the Andorra game to come, Wales could not hide their dejection after second-half goals from Milan Djuric and Vedad Ibisevic gave Bosnia a 2-0 win.
“It was the first game in that campaign we’d lost, so that feeling was just hurting us,” Coleman tells BBC Sport Wales.
“We were playing Andorra at home in our final game, we needed a point, and I remember thinking about our history, how we always fall at the last hurdle and I was thinking, ‘Come on, really?’ I fancied us to do something against Andorra, but you never know, do you?
“Then I was coming off the pitch. Our fans are to the left. I remember thinking, ‘They’re a bit joyful. We’ve just lost 2-0. Why are you doing this?’
“Then I saw Mark Evans (the Football Association of Wales’ head of international affairs), who had a look on his face. He said Israel won. And I swear he waited three or four seconds and then he said: ‘Cyprus two.’ He paused again and said: ‘Israel one, Cyprus two’.
“He said we’d qualified and then I just remember turning around and all the players were waiting for me because I think they knew before I did, and I just couldn’t contain myself. I just ran to anybody.”
Jannik Sinner extended his remarkable run with a 7-5 7-6 (7-4) win over Alex Michelsen at the Miami Open.
The Italian world number two claimed his 25th and 26th consecutive set wins at ATP Masters 1,000 events during his win over Corentin Moutet on Monday – setting a new record.
Sinner made it 28 sets in a row by beating Michelsen but did not have it all his own way. Having taken the first set, he fell 5-2 down in the second before coming back to win on a tie-break.
The four-time Grand Slam winner has triumphed at the past two Masters 1,000 tournaments – at Indian Wells earlier this month and Paris in November – without losing a set.
In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff takes on Belinda Bencic in a quarter-final later on Tuesday, while Karolina Muchova was the first to power into the semis with a 7-5 7-6 (7-5) win against Canada’s Victoria Mboko.
Third seed Elena Rybakina ended Talia Gibson’s run late on Monday with a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 win to move into the last eight.
The 21-year-old Australian had won 11 of her past 12 matches but was outclassed by two-time Grand Slam champion Rybakina, who will face fifth seed Jessica Pegula on Wednesday.
Since he became head coach at Birmingham in 2007, Matt Mowry is 0 for 18 when it comes to winning a West Valley League baseball title. He’s won five City titles but the Patriots haven’t been able to figure out how to win a league title.
A showdown against defending City champion El Camino Real on Tuesday didn’t start or end well for the Patriots. The Royals (10-3, 4-0) scored five runs in the first inning on six hits and coasted to an 8-3 win over Birmingham (10-2, 3-1).
The big hits in the first inning were an RBI double by JJ Saffie, a two-run double by Blake Dubin and an RBI single by Ryan Hauptman. For the second consecutive game, Birmingham pitcher Nathan Soto couldn’t make it out of the first inning. ECR starter Jackson Sellz, celebrating his 17th birthday, threw six innings before Hauptman came in to get the save. Ryan Glassman, Macai Friedman and Shane Bogacz each had two hits.
Birmingham is getting help starting Friday when transfers Masen Ruiz (Chatsworth), Toni Mendoza (Chatsworth) and Larkin Fleming (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame) become eligible. All could become starters. The two teams play again twice next month.
Fullerton 7, Ocean View 5: Luke Gonzalez had two doubles to help Fullerton come back from a 5-3 deficit.
Los Alamitos 4, Marina 0: Ryan Deck struck out seven, walked none and gave up two hits in the shutout. Cruz Derrico finished with three hits.
St. Bernard 5, Bishop Amat 4: Juan Sandoval struck out five in a complete game for St. Bernard.
Newport Beach 9, Edison 0: Gavin Guy struck out six in 5 1/3 innings and also hit a three-run home run.
Santa Margarita 2, Servite 0: Sophomore Tyler George struck out four, walked none and threw a two-hit shutout. He also hit a home run.
Santa Monica 10, Leuzinger 1: Ryan Breslo had three hits for Santa Monica.
Oaks Christian 5, Newbury Park 2: Luke Puls, Ryan Sheffer and Oliver Dauskurdas each had two hits for Oaks Christian (9-2).
Calabasas 10, Thousand Oaks 9: The Coyotes handed Thousand Oaks its first defeat after 10 consecutive victories in a wild Marmonte League opener. The Lancers wiped out an 8-1 deficit with seven runs in the fifth inning to tie the score. Conner Kingston ended the game with a scoreless seventh for the save. Landon Carson had four RBIs for the Lancers. Michael Morales had three hits for the Coyotes.
Westlake 2, Agoura 1: Jaxson Neckien had two hits for the Warriors.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 10, Crespi 0: Malakye Matsumoto hit a grand slam and threw two scoreless innings of relief for 11-0 Notre Dame. Beckett Berg threw five scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Sierra Canyon 8, Chaminade 2: Isaias Tirado and Aiden Jahng each hit home runs and Armando Solorio threw four shutout innings.
St. Francis 6, Bishop Alemany 4: Daniel Izaguirre had three hits for St. Francis in the Mission League win. Brody Thompson, Chase Stevenson and Alex Noble hit home runs for Alemany.
La Mirada 5, Gahr 1: Jacob Oropeza threw 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
El Modena 3, Villa Park 0: Three pitchers combined on a no-hitter.
Huntington Beach 17, Fountain Valley 0: Bree Carlson hit three home runs for the Oilers.
Murrieta Mesa 7, Great Oak 0: Lilly Hauser struck out 13 and also had a two-run double to lead unbeaten Murrieta Mesa.
Oaks Christian 9, Newbury Park 3: Giabella Otani had two hits and three RBIs.
Shohei Ohtani’s three straight strikeouts in the fourth inning of his final spring start Tuesday featured a different putaway pitch for each.
He got Angels slugger Jorge Soler to whiff on a sweeper. Jeimer Candelario went down on a curveball. And Jo Adell struck out on a fastball.
“Just shows the confidence he has and different ways he had to attack guys, to get ahead and also put guys away,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 3-0 loss to the Angels in the Freeway Series finale. “And today the feel was really good, even better than the first outing.”
Pretty much everything was clicking for Ohtani heading into the regular season, even though it was only his second spring training start on the mound. Ohtani recorded 11 strikeouts in four-plus innings. He held the Angels to four hits, three of which were consecutive singles in the fifth, and was charged with three runs, all scored in the fifth.
For the first time in three years, Ohtani is set to begin the season as a fully healthy pitcher. And it will be the Dodgers’ first time managing his two-way schedule all year. Limited the last two seasons by his recovery and build-up from elbow surgery, Ohtani last made 20-plus starts in 2023 with the Angels.
“The desire is high,” Roberts said when asked about Ohtani’s aim to pitch wall to wall. “I think it’s realistic. Then the bigger question is, how are we going to manage that and navigate it?”
Thinking through the plan going into the season, Roberts floated the idea of giving Ohtani a little extra rest between starts. Dodgers starters are already on a six- to seven-day rotation. But a six-man starting pitching group gives the team flexibility as they map out their pitching plan.
“My intent is to be in the rotation under normal rest, normal circumstances,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton last week in Arizona. “Now if management thinks that I need extra rest, I’ll take it. But I’ll let management handle that. Just looking at our roster, we have a lot of pitchers. It doesn’t hurt to rest more.”
Ohtani’s in-game limits, after a build-up slowed by his participation in the World Baseball Classic as a position player, will be adjusted before each start. But his Freeway Series outing Tuesday set him up well. He stretched out to 86 pitches.
“When you’re talking about the first game of the season, could he get through six innings? Could he touch the seventh? Yes,” Roberts said Tuesday afternoon. “But he won’t touch the eighth inning. So there’s got to be some responsibility as far as how we manage him.”
When it comes to awards, Ohtani is going after a third World Series title. But his trophy case is well stocked with individual accolades too. He’s won four MVPs, five All-Star selections, four Silver Sluggers and a Rookie of the Year award.
The Cy Young, however, has remained elusive. He came close in 2022, when a 2.33 ERA and league-leading 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings earned him a fourth-place finish in the American League. It was the only time in his career that he crossed the 25-start threshold, with 28.
“I would never want to sacrifice our chance of winning and performing in the postseason,” Ohtani said. “So I think that’s really the No. 1 goal in my mind. Just because I want to try to win the Cy Young and throw more innings, that’s not necessarily the priority over winning a championship. So with that being said, if there’s a situation where there’s some injuries and I do have to pitch on shorter rest, I’m happy to do so.”
Would showing that he can make regular starts all year automatically put him in the Cy Young conversation?
“Oh yeah,” Roberts said. “Because of just talent, ability, will. If he does that, he’ll be in the conversation, absolutely. I have no doubt about that.”
Of course, besides reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, Ohtani would also be competing for the award with his own teammate, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who enters the season with the edge.
If Ohtani continues to pitch like he did on Tuesday, while building up the rest of the way, he and the Dodgers will be in good shape.
“It was another good one for him,” Roberts said, “and he’ll be ready to go.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights set a deadline Tuesday that sounds much like two earlier deadlines, giving San José State University 10 days to comply with a list of athletics-related demands or face enforcement action, including the termination of the university’s federal funding.
This is the third 10-day deadline issued by the OCR to SJSU, the first in January and the second having expired last weekend. All three concern the same case, that of a transgender woman who played on the school’s women’s volleyball team from 2022 to 2024.
A federal investigation was launched in February 2025 after controversy over Blaire Fleming disrupted the 2024 volleyball season. Four Mountain West Conference teams — Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada-Reno — chose to forfeit matches to SJSU.
The probe concluded that SJSU’s policies “allowing males to compete in women’s sports and access female-only facilities deny women equal educational opportunities and benefits.”
SJSU pushed back, insisting it followed the law in allowing Fleming to play. SJSU president Cynthia Teniente-Matson wrote in a March 6 letter to the campus community that the university “vigorously disputes the conclusions that OCR reached. … Our position is simple: We have followed the law and cannot be punished for doing so.”
SJSU requested that the OCR rescind its findings and close its investigation. Instead, the federal agency redoubled its efforts, with the latest salvo a “letter of impending enforcement” issued Tuesday and accompanied by a statement from U.S. Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey.
“We have provided SJSU with multiple opportunities to resolve its Title IX violations with common sense actions: separating male and female athletes based on their biological sex, keeping men out of women’s locker rooms and bathrooms, restoring rightfully earned titles and accolades to female athletes, and apologizing to the women forced to forfeit competitions to protect themselves,” Richey said. “Yet, SJSU remains obstinate, choosing a radical ideology over safety, dignity, and fairness for its own students.
“With today’s action, the Department is putting the university on notice: comply with the law or risk losing its federal funding.”
SJSU enlisted the support of the California State University system, which sued the Department of Education on March 6 to challenge its allegedly “lawless overreach” and block the federal government from cutting funding to SJSU if the school does not agree to a proposed itemized resolution agreement.
“Whether and under what conditions transgender women should be allowed to compete in women’s athletics has been hotly contested,” the CSU lawsuit said. “But this case is not about that issue. It is about the Department’s attempt to punish SJSU, even though the law in the Ninth Circuit has been and is clear. Under Ninth Circuit law, Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause protect transgender students from discrimination.”
Suing the Education Department “is not a step we take lightly,” Teniente-Matson said. “However, we have a responsibility to defend the integrity of our institution and the rule of law, while ensuring that every member of our community is treated fairly and in accordance with the law.”
An estimated two-thirds of SJSU students receive federal financial aid totaling about $130 million annually, according to Cal State University. Losing federal funds could also disrupt $175 million in research.
The Office of Civil Rights’ proposed resolution agreement, which SJSU dismissed out of hand, contains the following demands:
1) Issue a public statement that SJSU will adopt biology-based definitions of the words “male” and “female” and acknowledge that the sex of a human — male or female — is unchangeable.
2) Specify that SJSU will follow Title IX by separating sports and intimate facilities based on biological sex.
3) State that SJSU will not delegate its obligation to comply with Title IX to any external association or entity and will not contract with any entity that discriminates on the basis of sex.
4) Restore to female athletes all individual athletic records and titles misappropriated by male athletes competing in women’s categories, and issue a personalized letter of apology on behalf of SJSU to each female athlete for allowing her participation in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination.
5) Send a personalized apology to every woman who played in SJSU’s women’s indoor volleyball from 2022 to 2024, beach volleyball in 2023, and to any woman on a team that forfeited rather than compete against SJSU while a male student was on the roster — expressing sincere regret for placing female athletes in that position.
In a related lawsuit, a Colorado district judge this month deferred ruling on motions to dismiss former SJSU volleyball player Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University system. Slusser alleged that she was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with Fleming without being informed that Fleming is transgender.
Judge Kato Crews dismissed the Mountain West Conference as a defendant but said he wants to put the rest of the case on hold until after a Supreme Court ruling in B.P.J. v. West Virginia, which is expected to come in June.
The B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a transgender teen sued West Virginia to block a state law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports.